[bbales]

Hi -- posted this quite some time ago, but it's still a problem!

For some reason, I cannot load Print and fax preferences in system preferences, on my 400 MZ DT (they load fine on my PB). It was a completely clean install of Panther -- by that I mean I erased the whole drive, repartitioned it, everything. I thought maybe it had to do with using my AEBS for printing, but -- that's stopped working for the moment, so I have the printer connected directly to the desktop. Today, I even repaired permissions, just to see if that had something to do with it, but still those preferences will not load.

Anyone have ANY insights?

[pat++]

try this in Terminal :

sudo rm -f /Library/Preferences/com.apple.print.FaxPrefs.plist
sudo rm -f ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.print.PrintingPrefs.plist

[bbales]

Not to be stupid or anything, but what exactly was I supposed to do? If I put in the first line, I got .faxPrefs.plist.

When I put in the second, I believe I got my own name back at me. If I put in BOTH lines, I got a bunch of my own name with "report abuse" at the end.

So I'm not exactly sure what it is I'm looking for.

[zachs]

Originally posted by bbales:
Not to be stupid or anything, but what exactly was I supposed to do? If I put in the first line, I got .faxPrefs.plist.

When I put in the second, I believe I got my own name back at me. If I put in BOTH lines, I got a bunch of my own name with "report abuse" at the end.

So I'm not exactly sure what it is I'm looking for.

Go to /Library.

Delete "com.apple.print.FaxPrefs.plist" and "com.apple.print.PrintingPrefs.plist".

[chabig]

Actually, he means /Libary/Preferences/

Chris

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by pat++:
try this in Terminal :

sudo rm -f /Library/Preferences/com.apple.print.FaxPrefs.plist
sudo rm -f ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.print.PrintingPrefs.plist

You didn't just seriously post two "sudo rm" commands (not that plain "rm" wouldn't have been bad enough!) for a complete novice to copy and paste into his Terminal, DID YOU?

Without any sort of explanation?



bbales: You need to be careful with Terminal stuff if you don't know what you're doing, especially if the command requires your password (as these two should have).

"sudo" means "do as superuser", where superuser is a user account on your machine (it's always there) that has absolute rights - including priviliges to delete or overwrite *anything*. This is why prefixing any command with "sudo" requires your administrator password.

"rm" means "remove", as in delete, and the "-f" option means "forced", so the command will just merrily remove whatever it's told to, without asking for confirmation.

So in this case, the two commands should have just removed the two preference (.plist) files - no harm done. But you see the danger.

If somebody posts a terminal command as a fix for something and you aren't sure of what the command does, open up your terminal and type "info whateverthecommandis" (without the quotes. "info rm" or "info sudo" or "info info" for example) to get a users' manual. You can step through the manual by the screenful using the spacebar, and quit the manual either by closing the window or by hitting Ctrl-C.

If "info" doesn't work (it's the newer version of the manual pages and not every command may have been added yet), try "man <whateverthecommandiscalled>".

click here: file:///Library/Preferences/ and trash com.apple.print.FaxPrefs.plist
then
click here: file:///~/Library/Preferences/and trash com.apple.print.PrintingPrefs.plist

You may have to enter your password to remove the first one.

I have no idea if this will solve your problem.

-s*

[pat++]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
[B]You didn't just seriously post two "sudo rm" commands (not that plain "rm" wouldn't have been bad enough!) for a complete novice to copy and paste into his Terminal, DID YOU?

Without any sort of explanation?



bbales:

I did post these commands because there is ABSOLUTELY NO DANGER running them.
It's not a recursive delete, so it can't do anything wrong. You guys are pathetic. Because you are running a command as root does not mean you can systematically delete everything on your harddisk.

bbales: you just need to open Terminal (located in /Applications/Utilities) and copy and paste each line (press RETURN after each one, and enter your password when prompted).

[bbales]

thanks for all the info people. Every time something goes wacky, I end up learning new things. While I've been using macs for years and years, I'm quite unfamiliar with the linux underpinnings and terminal stuff, so it's good to get more info.

Unfortunately, I STILL can't load print and fax prefs. ANYONE have any idea why this one pref won't load? Although -- I haven't tried restarting my computer yet after doing the preferences trashing.

[pat++]

Do you have several Macs on the same network? does it happen if you only have the 400mhz Mac turned on? do you have Printer Sharing enabled on one of the Macs (look in System Preferences->Sharing)?